Dedicated to Richard's Grandson, my beloved son.

On January 10, 2004 I lost my youngest son Brandon, who was 18 years of age. Earlier that day, I learned that Brandon intended to go on a very difficult hike with friends and had a strong intuitive feeling that something would go wrong. Specifically, my feelings were that something would go badly for Brandon and that it could take his life. Since my normal tendency was to worry, I dismissed my feelings to some degree. Deep down, though, I was still driven to ask Brandon to stay home and remember saying, "Brandon, please don't go, it's far too windy to go hiking." Brandon responded by saying "We're going Dad," essentially conveying the message "stop worrying."

So, Brandon went out hiking in the McDowell Mountains, near our desert home in Scottsdale, Arizona. On that day, strong winds pushed pollutants from the greater Phoenix valley up against the mountains where Brandon was hiking. The bad air combined with the vigorous climb caused Brandon to suffer a severe asthma attack, which lowered the oxygen levels in his bloodstream. I later learned that Brandon rested in an effort to regain his strength and ability to breathe. Brandon also utilized his inhaler in an effort to reduce his asthmatic symptoms. Unfortunately, these actions were not helpful and Brandon's condition did not improve.

He attempted to climb back down to the base of the mountain and this activity robbed his limited oxygen supply from his heart and brain. The gradual decline in blood oxygen levels eventually caused Brandon's heart to fail. I later learned that Brandon was joking the entire time and never seemed panicked. Apparently, he failed to recognize the severity of the situation, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Just prior to collapsing, Brandon told his good friend Stuart that "everything was shining."

On the evening of Brandon's passing, I contacted my uncle Robert Ireland to share the tragic news. My uncle was a gifted psychic like my father. After speaking to my uncle, I was anxious to learn if he felt anything about Brandon's well being, but nothing came to him immediately. I spoke to my Uncle again a day later, however, and he told me that my father had visited him early that morning and shared some facts about Brandon.

My uncle conveyed that Brandon's heart failed due to oxygen deprivation and, while he suffered from shortness of breath, Brandon experienced no pain. Looking back to the day of Brandon's passing, when I first spoke to my Uncle, we knew very little about the circumstances surrounding Brandon's death. At that time, the authorities did not share any information with us regarding the suspected cause, nor were they even willing to speculate. Subsequently, we received the autopsy results, which indicated an exact match with the information provided by my Uncle. Brandon suffered a severe asthma attack which lowered oxygen levels to a point resulting in cardiac arrest.

My uncle Bob also told me that Brandon was confused when his spirit left his body, but that my father joined him and helped him adjust. My uncle also shared a message that Brandon wanted us to know, which was that "we were the best parents that he could have ever had." As I saw it, we were the ones blessed to have Brandon in our lives as he was and is a loving soul with a pure heart.